Surah Ash-Shu'araa (26) — Ayah 227

(Ayah 227) ➊ {اِلَّا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا وَ عَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ …:} After the condemnation of poets, those among them who possess four qualities are exempted. The first quality is that they are believers. The second is that they perform righteous deeds, and are not sinful, wicked, or immoral. The third is that they remember Allah abundantly, both in their daily lives and in their poetry. It should not be that there is much emphasis on verbal glorification and remembrance, but in their poetry, instead of remembering Allah, there is mention of love, lust, and frivolous matters. The fourth quality is that they use their speech to support the truth against the oppressors and give a crushing response to the insults that the disbelievers and polytheists utter about Islam, Muslims, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). On such occasions, they use their tongues in the same way that a warrior uses arrows and swords on the battlefield. For this purpose, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) himself used to encourage the poets of Islam. Thus, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ اُهْجُوْا قُرَيْشًا فَإِنَّهُ أَشَدُّ عَلَيْهَا مِنْ رَشْقٍ بِالنَّبْلِ ] [ مسلم، فضائل الصحابۃ، باب فضائل حسان بن ثابت رضی اللہ عنہ : ۲۴۹۰ ] "Satirize the Quraysh, for it is more severe for them than piercing with arrows." And at the end of this hadith, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying to Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him): [ إِنَّ رُوْحَ الْقُدُسِ لَا يَزَالُ يُؤَيِّدُكَ مَا نَافَحْتَ عَنِ اللّٰهِ وَ رَسُوْلِهِ ] "The Holy Spirit will continue to support you as long as you defend Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him)." And she says that she heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: [ هَجَاهُمْ حَسَّانُ فَشَفٰی وَ اشْتَفٰی] [ مسلم، فضائل الصحابۃ، باب فضائل حسان بن ثابت رضی اللہ عنہ : ۲۴۹۰ ] "Hassan satirized them and healed, and was healed." Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah! What is your opinion about poetry?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: [إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ يُجَاهِدُ بِسَيْفِهِ وَلِسَانِهِ وَالَّذِيْ نَفْسِيْ بِيَدِهِ لَكَأَنَّمَا تَنْضَحُوْنَهُمْ بِالنَّبْلِ ] [صحیح ابن حبان : ۴۷۰۷، قال المحقق إسنادہ علی شرط الشیخین ] "A believer strives with his sword and his tongue. By Him in Whose hand is my soul! It is as if you are piercing them with arrows." It is clear from the verse that poetry has two states: one that is condemned, and the other that is permitted. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ مِنَ الشِّعْرِ حِكْمَةً ] [ ابن ماجہ، الأدب، باب الشعر : ۳۷۵۵ ، و قال الألباني صحیح ] "Some poetry is full of wisdom." Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ الشِّعْرُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْكَلَامِ حَسَنُهُ كَحَسَنِ الْكَلَامِ وَ قَبِيْحُهُ كَقَبِيْحِ الْكَلَامِ ] [ سنن الدار قطني : 274/5، ح : ۴۳۰۸ ] "Poetry is like speech, so what is good in it is like good speech, and what is bad in it is like bad speech."

➋ { وَ سَيَعْلَمُ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْۤا …:} By the wrongdoers are meant those disbelievers and polytheists who, by not accepting faith, wronged their own souls and, out of stubbornness and obstinacy, belied the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and tried to disgrace Islam by calling the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) a sorcerer, soothsayer, and poet. It is said that soon they will know what their end will be, both in the Hereafter and in this world. In these words, there is a very severe warning for the disbelievers. [ اَللّٰھُمَّ أَحْسِنْ عَاقِبَتَنَا فِي الْأُمُوْرِ کُلِّھَا وَأَجِرْنَا مِنْ خِزْيِ الدُّنْیَا وَ عَذَابِ الْآخِرَۃِ ]

227-1. With this, those poets have been exempted whose poetry is based on truthfulness and realities, and the exemption is made with such words that make it clear that a believing, righteous, and one who frequently remembers Allah, a poet, cannot engage in poetry containing falsehood, exaggeration, excess, or deficiency. This is only the work of those who are devoid of the qualities of the believers.

227-2. That is, such believing poets respond to those disbelieving poets, in which they (the disbelievers) have spoken ill of the Muslims. Just as Hassan bin Thabit used to respond to the poetry of the disbelievers, and the Prophet ﷺ himself used to say to him, "Satirize them (the disbelievers), Gabriel is with you." (Sahih Bukhari)

227-3. That is, to which place do they return? And that is Hell. In this, there is a severe warning for the wrongdoers. Just as it is mentioned in the hadith, "Beware of oppression! For oppression will be darkness on the Day of Resurrection." (Sahih Muslim)

227. Except those who believe, do righteous deeds, remember Allah much, and defend themselves after being wronged [137]. Soon the wrongdoers will know to what (evil) end they will come [138].

[137]
Which Poets Are Exempted from This Principle?

That is, among the poets about whom general condemnation has been mentioned, those poets possessing the following four qualities are exempted. First, that they have believed. Second, they have adopted righteous deeds as their way of life. Third, they remember Allah abundantly, and their hearts are never heedless of Allah’s remembrance at any time. Fourth, whatever they say in poetry is in support of the truth against the oppressors, and they do not satirize anyone for personal motives. For example, through poetry, they praise Allah, encourage goodness, condemn disbelief and sins, or if disbelievers satirize Muslims, Islam, or the Prophet of Islam, then they respond in kind and thus take retribution from the oppressor. Accordingly, Hazrat Aishaؓ narrates that when the Quraysh satirized the Muslims, the Prophetﷺ told the Muslims to respond to their satire, for satire is more unbearable to the Quraysh than a shower of arrows. Then he asked Abdullah bin Rawahah to compose satire, but his satire did not please the Prophet. Then the Prophetﷺ asked Ka‘b bin Malik, and then Hassan bin Thabit to compose satire, and also informed him to be careful, as he (the Prophet) was also from the Quraysh. Hazrat Hassan said, “By Him Who has sent you as a true Prophet, I will separate you from the Quraysh as a hair is separated from flour.” Hazrat Aishaؓ narrates that the Prophetﷺ prayed for Hassan, “O Allah, help him with the Holy Spirit.” He also said, “Hassan! As long as you continue to respond on behalf of Allah and His Messenger, the Holy Spirit will continue to help you.” He also said, “Hassan, by satirizing the Quraysh, has comforted the hearts of the believers and destroyed the honor of the disbelievers.” [مسلم۔ کتاب الفضائل۔ باب فضائل حسان بن ثابت]
After this, the long qasida (ode) of Hazrat Hassan bin Thabitؓ is mentioned in Sahih Muslim.

[138] That is, those people who called the Messenger of Allahﷺ a soothsayer, a poet, a sorcerer, or insane, so that by creating various obstacles in the call to Islam, they could try to bring down the truth.